The San Francisco Bay Area abounds in great locations for photographing cosplayers in various environments. Let's start from the north and work our way south.

Marin Civic Centerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Civic_Center
This futuristic architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright has been in a couple of science fiction movies. It would be perfect as a backdrop for more sci-fi themed costumes, particularly Star Trek and Star Wars.

Marin Headlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Headlands
Starting around the time of the Civil War and lasting until the middle of the 20th century, various military bunkers were built to help protect the San Francisco Bay from invasion. Today, the Headlands are a national recreation area. The bunkers are scattered around the site. They're made of crumbling concrete and would make good backdrops that suggest a post-apocalyptic world or even medieval castles.

It would be perfect as a backdrop for more sci-fi themed costumes, particularly Star Trek and Star Wars.

A Star Trek shoot there would amuse me, considering Starfleet Academy is in San Francisco! It would not be totally out of place to do a Star Trek shoot in Marin, or with the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the background.

Moving south, it's hard to miss the city of San Francisco, the legendary city by the bay.
Off the top of my head, however, there's nothing I can think of specifically that would be good for cosplay photographic backdrops... How about this?

Palace of Fine Artshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Fine_Arts
This structure survives from the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition and is located next the Exploratorium museum. Architechturally it's got Graeco-Roman columns and a sort of ancient look to it.

Sunol Water Templehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunol_Water_Temple
This is another structure with a very Graeco-Roman vibe to it. It's more remote than the Palace of Fine Arts, which may be a good thing or a bad thing. If you need privacy, or if you're filming a movie, I would suggest Sunol. If convenience and a quick snap-shot is all you need, then by all means go to the Palace of Fine Arts and check out the Exploratorium in the same day.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Park abounds in all kinds of structures and environments. Perhaps I will touch on this later.

Castle Rock State Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_...rk_(California)
Going a bit south and converting to a naturalistic landscape, Castle Rock is popular with hikers and climbers. There are beautiful woods, craggy cliffs and caves as well. This is where I shot one of my fan films, although the State Park system prefers that if you show up with lots of filmmaking equipment, and look like a large-scale studio, they will probably want to charge you some money and make you sign permits. But for low-profile missions and photo shoots, they should be okay.

Hakone Gardenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone_Gardens
Further to the south, Hakone Gardens simulates the look of old Japan. Several pieces of authentic-looking architecture surround a koi pond, and the grounds are landscaped by all manner of Japanese plants, including some really big bamboo. Pretty darned good for anything with a samurai theme.

In a pinch, some locations in San Francisco could be used, such as Japantown, and the Japanese tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.

With all of these, please check for availability and permission first before you go!

Another Great Place Woul Be on a Caltrain, or on a BART train! (A BART train is like a monarail, very futuristic!)

__________________I'm new to the whole cosplay scene, so don't expect anything worthy of worship from me.....Plannin to go to Fanime '12Kakashi-NarutoBakura-Yu-Gi-OhOuran High School Host Club Member-Ouran High School Host ClubAmerica-Hetalia

Legion of Honorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califor...egion_of_Honor
The Legion of Honor is a museum and there aren't very many places to shoot, but it's another one of those "Greco-Roman" looking places. There is a fountain in front and some green areas off to the side that I think would still make for a great backdrop for any series. =)

SF Botanical Gardenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fra...tanical_Garden
And mentioning Golden Gate Park, the SF Botanical Gardens are also a great place for photos! There's a wide variety of different foliage and scenery, and it's a very large park so not as many passerby as you would get at the Legion of Honor. It's also right next to the Japanese Tea Garden, so cosplayers could even switch locations for a variety of scenes. =)

Don't you just love San Francisco for the places to have photo shoots? The Bay Area has just some amazing places. I live about an hour north of the city but we have some great places here. Although, normal people here aren't to willing to except people who cosplay. Maybe it's just the people I've run across. So did you find any awesome places?

Mussel rock beach is a little far from San Francisco but probably no more then a 20min drive. The beach is very clean most of the time and there's this point at the top of the hill (I believe its called mori's point) that would make for a epic photo shoot.